Sharing what looks like a beautiful resource exploring the wisdom of trauma, and following the healing journey…
Are you easily triggered?
Prone to over-thinking?
Scared to be seen?
Constantly apologising, even for the space you take up in the world?
Fearful of rejection? And failure? And getting it wrong?
But you want to feel calmer, present and kinder to yourself and your family?
Living with the pain of trauma is tough.
We want to be there for others, to be kind, compassionate and respectful, especially to our children. Yet we can find ourselves pushed to our limits, overloaded and overwhelmed.
Our pain can leave us quick to anger, frozen in fear or stifled with shame. And with such powerful emotions bubbling up inside ourselves, flashes of the past threaten to destroy the peace of the present.
Just as the torture of bashing or brushing a physical wound causes us to flinch and reel from the pain and divert our attention, so it is with our trauma.
Feeling ill-equipped to meet our own needs in these moments, yet determined to be here for those we love. Exhausted and wounded, and still we survive.
But we are not alone.
I’ve written before about healing the hurts from our childhood. And in that post I shared some of my favourite soothing words, picked from some wonderful resources for parents seeking to move forward, respectfully loving their children, without passing on the pain of the past.
The Wisdom of Trauma
And last week, I heard about The Wisdom of Trauma, a film featuring Dr. Gabor Maté, whose work I’ve mentioned before here and here.
Whatever the stage of our healing journey, despite the damage and hurt, wisdom often comes from trauma. Like any of our experiences, trauma brings with it opportunities to learn and grow.
And in this film, Dr Maté offers…
a new vision: a trauma-informed society in which parents, teachers, physicians, policy-makers and legal personnel are not concerned with fixing behaviors, making diagnoses, suppressing symptoms and judging, but seek instead to understand the sources from which troubling behaviors and diseases spring in the wounded human soul.
The next broadcasts of The Wisdom of Trauma will be available 27th July to 1st August 2021.
Sign up here to find out more about screenings, and access more resources. So far, I’ve started watching the first of the Talks of Trauma series and am eager to watch more.
I’m really looking forward to watching the film, though I’m sure it’ll be an emotional watch.
Let me know if you’ve seen The Wisdom of Trauma, or are planning to watch this week. I’d love to know your thoughts about it.
Grateful to Mel Wiggins and her newsletter where I first heard about this film 🙂